Saturday practice: Vasser to the fore

Vasser hustled his Reynard-Toyota around the 1.029-mile oval in 23.201 seconds for an average of 159.666mph. Memo Gidley was second, CART points leader Kenny Brack was third and Adrian Fernandez was fourth, with all four in the 23.2-second bracket.

Vasser's best effort on Friday afternoon was a 24.199-second lap, which put him 16th on the speed charts after he ran 20th in the morning. But overnight changes helped rid the car of understeer. Vasser finished second in the inaugural race at Chicago in 1999 and eighth in 2000.

Gidley's 23.224-second lap was good enough to pace the first practice group, ahead of Fernandez and Friday pacesetter Bruno Junqueira. The runners in the second group didn't have the same advantage they usually have due to the cool and cloudy conditions.

The weather could have an impact on qualifying this afternoon, as scattered showers are forecast for the area. If qualifying is rained out, the grid will be determined on the basis of the Saturday morning practice times.

That will be of no help to several big-name drivers who have struggled to dial their cars in for the slippery Chicago oval, notably the Team Green duo of Michael Andretti and Paul Tracy, who ranked 22nd and 25th respectively.

Tracy's 23.868-second lap was just 0.667secs slower than session leader Vasser's. Meanwhile, their team mate Dario Franchitti fared somewhat better, notching 12th place with a 23.487-second lap.

Another surprise came in the form of Tora Takagi, who was eighth quickest in his Walker Lola-Toyota, while Penske Racing team mates Helio Castroneves and Gil de Ferran were off the pace in 10th and 15th.

Mauricio Gugelmin returned to action after his 123-G shunt on Friday and posted the 19th best time.

"I'm pretty stiff, but racing drivers are strange," he said. "Once you're back in the car, you run on adrenaline and you don't feel any pain."